These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly portion: #1357 – Blood and DNA Test in Determining Paternity. Good Shabbos!

The Essence of Eisav Being Kofer B’ikur

We all know the story: Eisav came in from the field exhausted while Yaakov was cooking lentil soup. Eisav wanted the lentil soup. Yaakov sold it to him in exchange for the “bechora” (the first-born rights).

The Gemara (Bava Basra 16b) states that this event took place on the day Avraham Avinu died, while Yaakov was preparing the customary mourner’s food (i.e., lentil soup) to comfort his father Yitzchak. The Gemara further states that on this very day, the wicked Eisav transgressed five major aveiros (sins): He violated a na’arah ha’meorosa (betrothed young bride); he murdered someone; he was kofer b’ikur (denied the existence of the Ribono shel Olam); he denied the resurrection of the dead; and he shamed the status of being a firstborn.

The Gemara, in its classic style, cites proofs that each of these aveiros was committed:

How do we know he violated a na’arah ha’meorosa? It says here “and Eisav came in from hasadeh (the field)” (Bereshis 25:29) and it says there (by a case of rape), “basadeh” (for he found her in the field) (Devorim 22:27).

How do we know he murdered someone? It says here “ayef” (exhausted) (Bereshis 25:29) and it says there (by a case of murder), “ki ayefah nafshi l’horgim” (my soul has been exhausted by the killers) (Yirmiyah 4:31).

How do we know he was kofer b’ikur? Here it says “Lamah zeh li bechora?” (What use do I have for the birthright?) (Bereshis 25:32) and there (by the shiras hayam), it says “Zeh Keli v’anveihu” (Shemos 15:2).

How do we know he denied the resurrection of the dead? It says, “Behold I am going to die.” (Bereshis 25:32).

How do we know he belittled the bechora? It says, “And Eisav belittled the bechora” (Bereshis 25:34).

The truth is that each of these five aveiros need a more elaborate proof. We will focus on just one of these five aveiros – the fact that he was kofer b’ikur. The Gemara in Bava Basra makes a gezeira shava linking the word “zeh” in our parsha (lamah zeh li bechora) with the word “zeh” by Krias Yam Suf (Zeh Keli v’anveihu).

The current Tolna Rebbe has a very interesting take on this: How do we see the connection between these two pesukim? Many of us are familiar with the chazal that says — based on the pasuk “Zeh keli v’anveihu” — that at the time of the splitting of the Yam Suf, a mere handmaiden saw the Ribono shel Olam with more clarity than Yechezkel and the other great prophets in their prophetic visions. At Krias Yam Suf, they were actually able to point to Him and say – Zeh Keli: This is my G-d!

This is an amazing phenomenon because less than a week earlier, at Krias Yam Suf, this very same handmaiden and this very same Klal Yisrael were on the edge of the spiritual abyss – on the “forty-ninth level of the gates of impurity,” and were indistinguishable in their practice of idolatry from the Egyptians. (“These worship idols, and these worship idols” (Medrash Tehillim Shochar Tov 15:5.)) Now, less than a week later, they surpassed Yechezkel and the other great prophets in their prophetic clarity! Based on the Rambam’s description of how a navi must prepare to receive Divine Prophecy, this “instant nevuah” seems incomprehensible! It is the equivalent of accelerating from zero to sixty in three seconds!

How did that happen? It happened because the Ribono shel Olam gives us this power of renewal. No matter how far a person has fallen, or how low he has gone, the Ribono shel Olam gives every person the capacity to do teshuva and to rise above his past. That is how this could happen. The Ribono shel Olam implanted this koach into all of us!

The Gemara records (Kiddushin 49b) that if a person tells a woman “Behold I am betrothed to you on condition that I am a complete tzadik,” even if he is a completely wicked person, there exists a doubt nevertheless that the kiddushin may be valid because “perhaps he has had thoughts of repentance in his heart.” Every one of us has the possibility of making a change in attitude or a change in perspective that places us on a path of teshuva. The Ribono shel Olam gave us the ability to change and even to change overnight.

When Eisav said the words “Lamah zeh li bechorah?” he was in effect saying: I have no use for the birthright. I am too far gone. I just violated a betrothed young girl. I just murdered someone. Now you want to give me the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash (Divine Temple service), which is what the bechora is all about? Give me a break! I am too far gone. It is impossible that I will ever come back.

That, says the Tolner Rebbe, is Eisav’s aveira of being “kofer b’ikur.” Eisav did not make a proclamation: “I don’t believe in G-d. There is no such thing as G-d.” No! Rather, Eisav denied the Ribono shel Olam by denying that the Ribono shel Olam gave everyone the power of teshuva. Saying “I can’t change. I can’t do teshuva. I can’t become a better person” is a denial of the power the Ribono shel Olam gave everyone, which is in effect denying the Ribono shel Olam. That is the “kofer b’ikur” aspect of “Lamah zeh li bechora?”

This idea relates to a teaching of the Kotzker Rebbe (Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk 1787-1859). The Kotzker examines the special connotation of Eisav’s request “hal’iteinee nah min ha’adom ha’adom hazeh.” The word hal’iteinee appears in a Mishna in Maseches Shabbos (155b) that talks about how to feed an animal – what you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do: “One may not stuff a camel (ayn ovsin); nor may he cram it (v’lo dorsin); but he may put food down its throat (aval mal’itin)” The exact translation of these three verbs may be imprecise, but the expression “hal’iteinee” (the third one we mentioned) is something that someone does to an animal. That is how an animal eats.

Eisav was in effect saying, “I am an animal.” People don’t use the expression “hal’iteinee.” Eisav viewed himself as an animal. Animals cannot change, as the Gemara (Bava Kama 65b) states “a one-day old ox is called an ox; a one-day old ram is called a ram.” That is how Eisav viewed himself – incapable of change, no different than an animal. Therefore, of what use is the birthright to me? That was his “kofer b’ikur.”

Rivka Was a Bit Less Sensitive to Eisav’s Wives Than Yitzchok

Towards the end of the parsha, when Eisav was forty years old, he married two Chitite women, who caused great moras ruach (aggravation) to Yitzchak and to Rivka. The Yalkut Shimoni notes that the pasuk first mentions the moras ruach caused to Yitzchak and seems to imply that Rivka’s moras ruach came a bit later. Somehow, Yitzchak’s visceral negative reaction to his daughters-in-law came much earlier than that of Rivka. Why was that?

The Yalkut explains that since Rivka grew up in a home of idol worshippers, she was not as offended by the actions of Eisav’s wives as was her husband, who grew up in the home of Avraham and Sora. Yitzchak was repulsed by Avodah Zarah from birth. That is why he immediately could not stand the wives of his son, Eisav. Rivka, says the Medrash, did not have that same level of initial reaction.

What is the point of this Medrash? Does it want to emphasize that Yitzchak was better than Rivka? I don’t think so. The point of this Medrash is that despite the fact that Rivka was a tzadekes and she had now been removed from her childhood home for so many decades, the fact that early on in her life she was exposed to Avodah Zarah caused her to be somewhat less sensitive to the Avodah Zarah, and therefore it just did not elicit the same reaction from her as it did from Yitzchak. A person can become inured to it. Exposure to things that should be repulsive inevitably causes a loss of the visceral reaction that a person should have to such matters.

This is very prevalent in our day and age. I recently had a related discussion with someone. Baruch Hashem, my children are grown and one of the advantages of being in my current stage of life is that I do not need to drive carpool anymore. But I served my time and I drove carpool for many years. When I would drive carpool, I would turn on the radio in the morning to listen to the news. We are going back almost forty years now.

However, I don’t think people can listen to the radio nowadays with children in the car! How do people deal with all the corruption and depravity of our political leaders and candidates for office? How do people deal with all that they hear on the radio? Now the question becomes – if this “news” is so corrupting for our children, why don’t we shut the radio off right away even when only we hear such stories? The answer is that we have been hearing such lurid stories for so long that we have lost our sensitivity to them. We have lost our sensitivity to what is reported, and we have lost our sensitivity to bad language.

“My sin I recall today” (Bereshis 41:9). I once went to Brooklyn College for a short time. I had a psychology professor who was a menuval (disgusting person). But whenever he would ever utter foul language, he would excuse himself and say “I am sorry to say this in front of the women.” This means at least that he maintained a sensitivity that a person should not use curse words in front of women. But today, women curse as much as anyone else! Outrageous language is used and inappropriate subject matters are discussed even on what is considered “family programing.” I would not consider NPR (National Public Radio) “R-Rated” or “X-Rated”. They are typically just reporting the news but the news is outrageous.

This is what chazal are teaching about Rivka’s habituation with Avodah Zarah from her childhood home. After a while, it becomes just water off a duck’s back. That is not the way it should be. Even Rivka the tzadekes, because of her exposure when she was three years old, did not have the same reaction as Yitchak Avinu to Eisav’s wive’s behavior.

Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]

Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]

This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Toldos is provided below:

• # 031 – Marriage Between Relatives
• # 073 – Non-Kosher Medicines and the Birchas Hareiach (Scents)
• # 122 – G’neivas Da’as: Deception and Your Fellow Man
• # 169 – The Blind Person in Halacha
• # 215 – V’sain Tal U’matar
• # 259 – “Sorfin Al Hachzakos”: The Concept of Chazaka in Halacha
• # 305 – The Bracha of “Baruch Sheptarani”
• # 349 – Must Mincha Have a “Chazoras Hashatz”?
• # 393 – Neitz Hachama vs. Tefilah B’tzibur
• # 437 – Accepting Tzedaka from Women
• # 481 – Lying to Keep What’s Yours
• # 525 – Maris Ayin
• # 569 – Yichud With Relatives
• # 613 – Shiva and the Wayward Son
• # 657 – Fascinating Insights into the Tefilah of Mincha
• # 701 – Fasting on The Wedding Day
• # 745 – The Cost of Stealing a Mizvah
• # 789 – The Power of Your Own Words
• # 833 – Six or Ten People for Chazoras Hashatz?
• # 877 – Bar Mitzvah Sh’ailos
• # 921 – Accepting Someone Else’s Curse
• # 964 – The Non-Observant at Your Yom Tov Meal: Good idea or Problem?
• #1008 – “I Don’t Want You To Marry That Man” Must A Daughter Listen?
• #1052 – Seudas Hav’ra’ah and Sending Food During Shiva
• #1095 – Fascinating Bar Mitzvah Sh’ailos
• #1138 – Who’s Better For A Shliach Tzibur – A FFB or BT?
• #1181 – Maaser Money On Chasunah Gifts – Must You?
• #1225 – The Bar Mitzvah Bochur Who Leined His Haftorah by Heart
• #1269 – The B.T. Dilemma: Can He Trust His Non-Observant Parents That All Will Be Kosher?
• #1313 – An Orthodox Minyan in a Conservative Shul: Is there A Problem with Ma’aris Ayin?
• #1357 – Blood and DNA Test in Determining Paternity
• #1401 – Keeping Your Website Open For Business On Shabbos – Is there a Problem?
• #1445 – The December Office Party at Ruth Chris Steak House – Can You Attend?
• #1489 – Why Don’t Many Yeshivas Do Chazaras HaShatz for Mincha?
• #1533 – Geneivas Daas: How Could Yaakov Deceive his Father Yitzchak?
• (2022) – Amasla: I Didn’t Mean What I Said

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